Gastronomic Transylvania – Food Culture Festival

Gastronomic Transylvania is a food culture festival that began in 2008. The organizers’ mission is to gather as much information as possible about the produce consumed in Transylvania and about the area’s long forgotten recipes that could be revived. The idea behind this festival is to promote local food and recipes as a means of resisting the monopoly of low quality products over the market.

The organizers believe that these bland products have nothing to do with the heritage of this historic region and with nature. Instead, they try to draw people’s attention to the local producers, who are sometimes struggling to survive, despite the fact that they offer high quality products.

This year, the festival will take place over the course of three weeks between August and September in Sibiu. It will consist of 13 events that are destined for the large public as well as for specialists. As in the previous year, the festival will feature healthy food that contains no preservatives or additives and that has a low glycemic index.

Some of the events that people can take part in are Neighborhood Cooking, which is centered on specialties of the ethnic groups in Sibiu, Dinner in the Citadel, which entails dining at the Citadel and enjoying a menu inspired by some of the most interesting locations in the city center, or Rural County Brunch that offers dishes specific to the rural areas around Sibiu.    

The festival is based on strong principles, of which we will mention the following two. Firstly, the events comprised are conceptualized, in that they entice the consumer to choose a certain dish through stories about the producer and the recipes. The cultural space that produced these foods is also recreated in the design of the very food.

A second principle is to give every event a sensory context. This is realized through images, sounds and tastes on a primary level and is then complemented by the association with a type of cultural event such as a concert, dances, guided tours or hikes. These principles contribute to make the experience of Gastronomic Transylvania an unforgettable one.

Sources: crestemidei.ro/TransilvaniaGastronomicFoodCultureFestival ;